ishi sunak faces an uphill battle in his bid to become prime minister after further setbacks as a rival Liz Truss won another major endorsement, pulling ahead in new polls of Tory voters.
The former chancellor was again on the defensive over tax in a crunch interview with Andrew Neil on Friday, dismissing allegations that his policies would lead to a recession and warning that Mrs. Truss’ plans for massive tax cuts would “add fuel to the fire” of inflation.
But the foreign secretary’s tax pledge won out the former rival of the Tory leaders Tom Tugendhatwhich she described as “based on true” Conservative principles’ when he came forward to support her.
I think it is absolutely the right choice not to put fuel on the fire of the inflation problem we already have
With Ms Truss’s tax plans consistently seeing her top the polls, Mr Sunak took a turn this week by promising to temporarily cut VAT on utility bills.
However, it appears that the policy has failed to bolster support among Tory voters – including those party members who elect the next prime minister – of whom 43% think Ms Truss would do better, compared to 32% for Mr. Sunak, according to a BMG Research survey for the newspaper i.
In an effort to regain a foothold in the contest before the ballots begin to fall through party faithful’s mailboxes next week, Mr Sunak will deliver a speech on Saturday attacking “woke nonsense”.
In hardened rhetoric about identity politics, he is expected to tell supporters in West Sussex that he will prevent “left-wing agitators” from “bulldozing our history, our traditions and our fundamental values”.
He will promise to review the 2010 Equality Act, which he has called a “Trojan horse that has allowed every kind of wakeful nonsense to permeate public life”.
Mr Sunak was mortified for nearly half an hour by the veteran political journalist on economics, immigration and his wife’s tax status in his Channel 4 interview, which Ms Truss has so far refused to participate in.
Neil challenged Mr Sunak about his plans to tighten fiscal policy at a time when “the global economy is coming to a standstill as monetary policy has tightened”, suggesting that he “would create a recession”.
Mr Sunak said: “I think it is absolutely the right choice not to add fuel to the inflation problem we already have.
“What we need to do is focus on long-term growth because that’s what we need, sustainable growth, not a sugar rush that makes us feel better for months, but then things get out of hand, let inflation kick in. system come. , let the Bank of England respond with even higher interest rates.”
Mr Sunak said a recession was “not the prediction of the majority of most independent forecasters here in the UK” and denied that his pledge to cut VAT on energy bills was a turnaround demonstrating “bad judgment”.
As for immigration, Neil insisted on why he wanted to turn down “even legal asylum seekers.”
Mr Sunak replied: “Because there is a finite amount of asylum seekers that we can integrate and accommodate.
“At any point, Andrew, there are probably a billion people who would like to move to the UK because this is a great country, so obviously we can’t all accept that.”
The millionaire’s ex-chancellor looked awkward as he brushed aside questions about his wife’s previous non-resident tax status — a scheme that has reportedly saved her millions, saying, “I’m the one running to the office and not my wife.”
Mr Sunak’s tax policy came under fire from new Truss supporter Mr Tugendhat, who wrote in The Times that it is “not right” for tax burdens to rise when people go into winter with “fear”.
The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee was the last heavyweight to come forward in support of Ms. Truss after Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace’s previous endorsement, and is significant for being popular among Tory members and a senior figure in the One Nation group of centrist Tory MPs.
Asked during a visit to Norfolk on Friday whether she was confident she was now ready to win the match, Ms Truss said: “I am not complacent at all. I’m fighting for every vote across the country.”
In a thinly disguised swipe at the former chancellor’s record, the foreign minister said it would be “risky” for the country to continue on its current economic path.
Ms Truss said the way to get growth is to “help people and businesses keep more of their own money”, saying that “avoiding a recession should be the number one priority”.